During Covid, 98% of Indians made one change in lifestyle: Accenture
After a year of lockdowns, 98 per cent of respondents in India said they made at least one change in their lifestyle that they expect will be permanent, according to findings of a new global survey by Accenture.
The latest survey of more than 9,650 people in 19 countries, including more than 500 in India, supports Accenture’s previous findings that many changes in behaviour will likely be long term. The pandemic has changed the way people live, work and socialise, accelerating demand for innovation. Retailers, consumer goods and travel companies have shifted from reacting to the crisis to reinventing products and services, the survey found.
“As companies shift from reaction to reinvention, they need to harness digital’s full potential across the value chain at speed and scale,” said Anurag Gupta, managing director (MD) and lead, strategy & consulting, Accenture in India.
Covid-19 has led to compressed transformation, with
companies simultaneously transforming multiple parts of the enterprise and reskilling people in what previously would have been longer-term step-by-step programmes.
Many consumer-facing companies have re-platformed their businesses in the cloud, addressed cost pressures, and continued to build resilience and security. They put the infrastructure in place to enable innovation and position them for future success.
Manish Gupta, MD and lead for products practice, Accenture in India, said, “To succeed in a post-pandemic economy, companies need to digitally reinvent themselves and strategically invest in technology, people and supply chains.
Adoption of digital technologies such as cloud, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, combined with a welldefined purpose, can help companies to not only reach out to consumers in innovative ways but also adapt faster to the evolving market demands.”
Dawn of the ‘third space’
The pandemic forced a rapid shift of employees to work from home. Many said that they want flexibility in how and where they work, moving forward. More than 87 per cent of respondents in India said they would like to occasionally work from a ‘third space’ — a location other than their home or place of employment. This highlights a potential opportunity to grow revenue for the hospitality and retail industries.
The desire to work from a “third space” is accompanied by a shift in attitudes towards business travel. Nearly 57 per cent of respondents in India said they have no business travel plans post-pandemic, or they intend to cut previous business travel by half. How long this view will hold firm remains to be seen. However, the current outlook indicates that the return to travel will resume principally within the leisure market. It will push the industry to adapt and become even more efficient to make up for lost income.
Shift in consumer habits is here to stay
People feel some of their work habits and travel plans have changed permanently and many also think their shopping habits have evolved for the long haul. The latest research supports Accenture’s previously released findings that the dramatic rise in ecommerce is likely to remain or accelerate further.